A Feast for a Princess
by CelticHeartedFanfic
Summary: Set in the Dark Castle immediately following Rumple rescuing Belle from the Queens of Darkness in the episode "Heroes and Villains." This was my Third and final entry for the 2017 Rumbelle Showdown on Tumblr, under the screen name "Desperation and Gin."


**_A Feast for a Princess_**

"You can take my laundry down tomorrow," Rumpelstiltskin said as they entered the Dark Castle. Belle shot him a stunned glare. Not knowing what to do after the ordeal she just went through, she took off her cape, tossed it on the table, and sat down on the table as she had done before. "Would you – like something to drink?" he asked.

"Alright," Belle replied quietly. Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand and a glass appeared in his other hand.

"Give it a try," he said, handing the glass to Belle.

"What is it?" Belle asked, eyeing the strange concoction.

"It's called ginger ale – it's a fairly popular drink in some realms – thought you might like to try it." Belle took a drink.

"It's good," she said. "Thank you."

"No matter," he replied.

"There um – there was a puppy," Belle began, then she took a few more sips of her drink. "In your yard. I – I'd like to know if it's alright."

"A puppy? Is that how they got you? They lured you with a puppy?"

"Well, it was a – a cute puppy. Do you like dogs?"

"They're alright," he replied. "Always leave too much dog hair lying about to clean up, but – I've had them before."

"Here? You've had dogs?"

"Not here," Rumpelstiltskin replied, and Belle noticed that he looked a bit – sad. As if he were remembering something from his past. She knew better to press him – he had helped her today, and she didn't want to do anything to make him angry.

"I, um – I think I'd just like to go to bed," Belle said.

"Without dinner? I won't hear of it, you must be hungry. What would you like?"

"Um – I don't know, I'm really not – that hungry to be honest." Ignoring her comment, Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand and conjured up an entire feast that spread across the table, aside from the spot where she was seated. Belle hopped off the table, stunned, and Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers, making a chair appear at the other end of the table.

"I thought you prefer that I don't eat with you."

"Well, I'll make an exception this time. Go on – be my guest." Belle looked the table over.

"Everything looks so good," she said. She filled a plate with a few things, then sat down. Rumpelstiltskin sat down across from her. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked.

"In a bit," he replied.

"So, um – can you find out?"

"Find out what?" he asked.

"About that puppy? It was – it was a spotted puppy, black and white, very sweet – can't imagine what those horrible women did with the poor thing."

"Will it make you happy if I did?" he asked.

"Well – it would make me happy to know that the puppy had a good home. Maybe we could find it and it could live here. With us."

"You do a lousy enough job cleaning as it is, I'm not having an abundance of dog hair floating about this place because of your lackluster housekeeping skills," Rumpelstiltskin quipped. "But if it will make you feel better -" Rumpelstiltskin vanished, and returned a mere second later.

"Where did you go?" Belle asked.

"Well – I presumed that the dog would have left some hair behind and – here it is," he said, holding up a small dog hair in his fingers. "Now – all I have to do is a locator spell, and we will know if the mongrel is safe." Rumpelstiltskin grabbed a bowl, waved his hand over it, then dropped the dog hair in the bowl. He gazed into the bowl for a moment.

"Is he alright?" Belle asked.

"Your dog – has made a friend. A young boy – and a cricket. Looks very happy."

"A – a cricket?" Belle asked.

"Yes, a cricket – a magic one. I believe your dog may have found a home."

"That's good. Thank you – for looking. I think I'm going to go to bed now, I'm quite full. I – do you want me to clean up in here first?"

"No, it's fine, I'll – I'll manage."

"Well, then - I'll see you in the morning." Rumpelstiltskin watched as she started to leave the room.

"Belle, wait," he called out. Belle turned around.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I – I lied to you, Belle. I do care about you. Very much."

"You – you do?"

"If you'd like a puppy, I could get you one. I'll get you whatever you want, Belle." Belle moved closer to him.

"Even if – even if what I wanted – was to leave this place?"

"I don't want you to leave," he admitted.

"Then give me a reason to want to stay," Belle said. Rumpelstiltskin moved in closer to her, and she inched closer to him. He moved his lips to hers, and soon they were locked in a kiss. It was a soft, gentle kiss at first, but it quickly erupted into a deep kiss, their tongues intertwining in one another's mouth. Rumpelstiltskin could taste the ginger ale still lingering on Belle's palate as their kiss became more and more heated with each second. His mouth nearly burned from the taste of her mouth on his, and he wanted to just toss the entire dinner spread onto the floor and take her, right there on the table. She was so beautiful, so pure, so flawless – how on earth could this perfect angel, this beauty, be sharing such intimacy with a beast like him. Oh, how he loved her – he wanted to show her how much he loved her . . . .

Rumpelstiltskin snapped out of his fantasy when Belle turned around one more time and said the words "Goodnight, Rumpelstiltskin," before leaving the room.

It wasn't real. It was all in his mind – his twisted, demented mind. Thinking such things about her – the man he used to be would have been mortified at such thoughts.

The man he used to be – that man, that pathetic, cowardly man – he would have treated Belle like a princess. He would have worshipped her, he would have adored her. And she would have left him – just like everyone else did.

She was going to leave someday, he knew that. He knew he couldn't hold her there forever in his castle. It wasn't right. She deserved a better life than what he could offer. Someday – when the time was right – he'd let her go. Of course, he would hope that she would come back to him of her own free will.

Then again . . . . . hope had never been his friend. Why on earth or any other realm would he expect that to be any different with Belle? Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand and cleared the table, then snapped his fingers and made the chair he brought out for Belle disappear. Can't let the help get to spoiled, he reminded himself. He then looked down, spotted her cape, which had fallen to the floor, and picked it up. He held the cape to his nose, then smelled it, taking in her scent, knowing that aside from his fantasies, this would be the closest he would ever get to her. He thought about it for a moment, then waved his hand and made the chair she had been sitting in appear once again. Rumpelstiltskin draped the cape over the chair carefully, then stepped away from the table. He had a quick errand to run before settling in for the evening – he had a gauntlet to retrieve.


End file.
